"CARDIFF CITY SHOULD BE MORE THAN EXCITED WITH NEW SIGNING"

"Cardiff City should be more than excited"
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The Celtic, Leicester City and Bristol City view on new Bluebirds signing


Aden Flint left for Sheffield Wednesday, but the Bluebirds bolstered their defensive ranks by recruiting 23-year-old centre back Filip Benkovic from Leicester City on the final day of the transfer window, the £13m Foxes signing joining on loan

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers says Benkovic needs game time, presumably meaning he sanctioned the move in the hope that Cardiff would afford the Croatia international plenty of minutes on the pitch.

And the player's chance might have come sooner than he thought.

Neil Harris is mulling over a number of defensive injury concerns heading into Wednesday night's clash with Bournemouth.

Left-back Joe Bennett returned to training only on Friday after hamstring problems, while Greg Cunningham, back-up in that position, limped off in the first half of the win over Preston due to injury of his own and has been ruled out for a couple of weeks.

To compound the issue, Jordi Osei-Tutu was also brought off towards the end of the match at Deepdale, but Harris hoped that was just minor tightness in his hamstring, too.

Sol Bamba was introduced from the bench on Saturday, pushing Curtis Nelson out to right back, while Leandro Bacuna filled in at left back.

But, with a few days' training under his belt, will Harris plump for young tyro Joel Bagan to fill in at left back? Or will the injury woes prompt a formation change, with Benkovic slotting in somewhere along that back line?


Wednesday could well see Benkovic make his Bluebirds bow, but how much do we know about him? Well, we spoke with those who know him best...


Jordan Blackwell – Leicester City correspondent at Leicester Mercury

Leicester City. Joined in August 2018 for £13m from Dinamo Zagreb and has made just two senior appearances so far.


1. Benkovic came in for £13m at Leicester, why hasn't he been part of the first-team plans?

"He was one of three centre-backs signed in the summer of 2018, along with Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu, with the club preparing for Harry Maguire's eventual departure and Wes Morgan's fade from the first-team picture.

So there was a lot of competition at first and, as the youngest and least experienced, Benkovic, was loaned out to Celtic.

When he came back last season, I don't think Rodgers believed he was Premier League standard, so he was fourth-choice until Ryan Bennett signed on loan in January, allowing Benkovic to go to Bristol City.

And, again, he has not developed as quickly as the club would have liked. With the signing of Wesley Fofana and Daniel Amartey's return to fitness, there are too many options ahead of him.

Injuries haven't helped him, either. He seems to have picked up problems regularly – he had a reputation for being injury-prone in Croatia, even as a teenager – which has limited his chances to impress."


2. How is he thought of generally at the club and what have the fans said about him?

"At first, there was a great deal of excitement among fans. Given he had played under Rodgers at Celtic, supporters believed that when the manager moved to the King Power Stadium and then when Maguire left in the summer of 2019, Benkovic would be the man to replace him.

Fans have always wanted to see more of him and there were plenty of questions from supporters about why he was being loaned out amid a defensive injury crisis at the club.

I think the reason is that Rodgers simply believes he is not currently good enough for the Premier League."


3. What do you think Rodgers' expectations are for the player's loan to Cardiff?

"Leicester tend not to loan players out unless they feel they will get plenty of first-team action, so I'd expect they will believe he can become a regular.

But he would have played so infrequently at Leicester that any game-time is beneficial. He's not played five games in a row since December 2018-January 2019, so Leicester will hope he can do that."


4. Does he have a long-term future with the Foxes, do you think?

"He really needs to show something this season to have a long-term future at the King Power Stadium, I feel.

Wes Morgan is not expected to get a new contract when his current deal runs out next summer, so there could be an opening for him in the Leicester squad for next season.

However, as things stand, I think he needs to pull up trees at Cardiff to be given that chance."

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Chris Doyle – Celtic reporter at GlasgowLive

Celtic – loaned there in August 2018 for the remainder of the season. Played 27 games, scored two goals and won three trophies.

1. Benkovic had a decent string of games up at Celtic, did he impress during his time there?

"He was more than impressive, Benkovic was arguably Celtic's best centre half that season.

When players come on loan, they can take time to settle, but Benkovic made an instant impact and he was a bit of a fan favourite too.

The Parkhead club only lost three games when he was in the side which shows the pedigree he brings to the table.

Unfortunately he picked up an injury during the second half of the campaign, but before that he was one of the standout players for Brendan Rodgers's side on their way to securing a treble.

I am fairly surprised he hasn't made his way into that Leicester side after his spell up here because from what I saw of him, he was more than ready to make that next step.

Cardiff have a quality player on their hands."


2. Why should Cardiff fans be excited by his arrival? What does he bring?

"When he puts it all together, like he did at Celtic, he looks the complete centre-back.

At 6ft 4in, he is exactly the type of presence you want in your defence. He is physically strong, but is by no means a slouch. He can outmuscle say a traditional no.9, while he still has the pace to deal with a trickier forward, who likes to run the channels or play on the last line of defence.

He is also great with the ball at his feet. Rodgers is renowned for wanting all of his centre-backs to play the ball from the back and he certainly ticks that box too. He reads the game well and puts his body on the line.

If Cardiff are getting the Celtic version of Filip Benkovic, they should be more than excited."


3. Is there anything else we should know about him? What did the manager think of him or what was he like in the dressing room or off the pitch?

"One thing worth noting was his relationship with the fans, the Celtic support really took to him and likewise, Benkovic definitely bought into the Celtic way.

I think he really excelled playing for a club that had such a passionate fan base and so Cardiff could be an ideal fit for him to show that form once again. He was a good figure to have in the dressing room and worked hard in training every day, especially when he was rehabbing so return to full fitness for the end of the campaign.

Celtic fans were desperate for him to come back on loan for another season and that's probably the biggest complement I can pay him."

Gregor MacGregor – Bristol City reporter at BristolLive

Bristol City – loaned there in January 2020 until the end of the season. Played 10 games and scored two goals.

1. What type of player can Cardiff City expect in Benkovic?

"Benkovic is a towering centre-back who, very much like Aden Flint, will be a menace on set-pieces.

His distribution with the ball is OK and his marking is good, too. He came off the bench as Bristol City lost to Birmingham last February for his first appearance for the Robins, but a mistake to let Lukas Jutkiewicz get past him too easily allowed the Birmingham striker to score and Benkovic was then unused until Lee Johnson was sacked.

But he came back into the City side under Dean Holden towards the end of last season and did well."


2. What are his strengths and are there any potential weaknesses?

"Goal-scoring for a defender. That 6ft4 frame is useful. He netted twice in six starts for City. And he was very solid in the air, winning an average of 5.1 aerial duels per game - putting him on par with defenders such as Joe Rodon, Patrick Bauer and Tobias Figueiredo this season so far.

But he's a little quicker on the turn than Flint, and his passing is perhaps that bit sharper too. He can find it difficult against nippy and nimble players but he reads the game well.

Given he has some Championship experience from last season, Cardiff could get a more settled Benkovic than City saw."


3. Are you surprised he didn't return to Ashton Gate? And would Robins fans have wanted him back?

"Yes, I am surprised he didn't return to Ashton Gate.

He did OK here after getting into the side later on in the season and CEO Mark Ashton had played a good role in convincing Brendan Rodgers to send him here on loan last January when other Championship clubs wanted the central defender too.

Once the Croat left at the end of the summer he was the victim of a Bristol Rovers fan prank, as a supporter commissioned a short Cameo video of Benkovic issuing a message that included calling the City owner a 'wet wipe'.

It's unknown if this influenced any decision."